# Water Only Diet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 27, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-only-diet/980457 "2023-02-27T21:39:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-only-diet/980457/1 "2023-02-27T21:39:19Z")
I have this book from the 70s, a book about “secrets” of European diets. My Swedish friend says it’s still common - going a week with nothing but water. I don’t like water, but I notice if I drink nothing else but water, I get parched, and constantly need more water, but never follow through and will drink a Gatorade or Dr. Pepper, but I’d be interested to hear if you have tried this and how you felt. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-only-diet/980457/2 "2023-02-27T23:50:22Z")
Isn’t this just fasting? Much like prisoners going on a hunger strike. Its not a heathly diet. I’ve fasted for three days, it sucks even with substances that curb your appetite. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-only-diet/980457/3 "2023-02-28T00:36:03Z")
Yes, water diets were the in thing for a while and the parched throat is correct. Water diets usually instructed users to add a squirt of lemon juice or a small (I do mean small) amount of salt to the water to help keep their electrolytes balanced. I tried one when I was aspiring to be a model that was a skinless chicken breast and half a grapefruit a day (no sugar on the grapefruit). It was called “Lose a Pound a Day” and a lot of models followed it. I lasted about 10 days. Yuck. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-only-diet/980457/4 "2023-02-28T16:54:04Z")
I’m not sure… I’ve never dieted, just curious if anyone else did this, wanting to compare with others observations. Someone I know mentioned autophagy. I actually just cracked open a Dr. Pepper but I tried to quit. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-only-diet/980457/5 "2023-02-28T18:06:45Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Isn’t this just fasting? Yeah, it’s a diet in the same way that “bald” is a hair color. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-only-diet/980457/6 "2023-02-28T18:21:40Z")
Yep. Not a diet. Starvation as punishment. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-only-diet/980457/7 "2023-02-28T18:37:32Z")
Almost 75% of your body is made up of water, so an ample supply of pure water is vital in keeping a healthy body. I had a grandfather who didn’t like water. He lost one kidney and part of another before passing away from something entirely different. > [@MortSahlFan](#): > > I don’t like water, but I notice if I drink nothing else but water, I get parched, and constantly need more water, but never follow through and will drink a Gatorade or Dr. Pepper, but I’d be interested to hear if you have tried this and how you felt. I’m suspicious of this for two reasons. As my grandfather proved, if you don’t like something, you tend to have as little as possible of it. “Constantly” may mean you are frequently drinking a teacup amount of water. That wouldn’t be enough, so that may be why you are parched. Quantity, not frequency may be the explanation. Your explanation makes no scientific sense whatsoever. Also, the other drinks you mentioned will increase your need for water, not decrease, so that in fact may be another reason why you get parched. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-only-diet/980457/8 "2023-02-28T19:35:37Z")
And you don’t want just pure water. You need some salt and electrolytes in there, unless you want to put yourself at risk of hyponatremia. There is such a thing as drinking too much water, and people have died from it (though you more often see it at endurance events like marathons where people sweat out a lot of salt and worsen the situation by drinking a lot of water without replacing the lost salt.) ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-only-diet/980457/9 "2023-03-01T11:17:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > hyponatremia Oh, I eat way too much salt… The food I eat at night is usually frozen, or just plain salty (dry). But so far, I have reduced soda to about 8-16 ounces per day… ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-only-diet/980457/10 "2023-03-01T17:56:00Z")
When my acid reflux is bad, i sometimes go a day without eating anything but me meds, and only drink water and unadulterated tea and coffee. (I like water, and mostly drink water on these days.) I find it somewhat restful. And it certainly reduces the amount of acid my stomach produces.